The employer must not ask about your health

An employer is not allowed to collect health information other than what is necessary in order to ascertain whether the employees will be able to carry out their duties.

The Working Environment Act limits the employer's opportunity to collect health information in connection with the recruitment process. He or she must have a necessary and valid need to collect such information about you. For instance, if you have a pacemaker and are going to work in a smelting factory, the magnetic fields in the hall can interrupt the pacemaker. Information that you have a pacemaker will therefore be relevant. However, questions about pacemakers are not relevant for a telephone sales job. 

When the Ministry drafted the Working Environment Act, it defined health information as "information that can contribute to clarifying a person's current or potential future health". In other words, health information is a very wide term. What is necessary must be assessed individually for each recruitment case.

Generally, the employer is not entitled to collect health information about you. This applies both if you are seeking work and if you are already employed in the company. If the employer would like to collect health information about you, there must be a necessary and just cause for obtaining this information. It is therefore important to be aware that there is no total prohibition against collecting health information.

The prohibition also covers information about any hereditary illnesses your parents might suffer from. The employer is therefore unable to ask whether there are any hereditary illnesses in your family, unless this information is necessary. If the employer requires such information, it should be justified in your safety, or the company must have a genuine need to obtain this information about your health.

The prohibition against collecting health information does not just apply when the question is put directly to you. The employer is not allowed to ask your family, friends, physician or previous employers about your health either.